Following the public uproar concerning the reasons behind Meghan Markle's name change
on her son's birth certificate, it appears that the Duchess of Sussex may have confused
her in-laws in Britain in her efforts to explain the situation. The controversy started after
The Sun reported that her name was missing from son Archie's updated birth certificate
after it had been originally released.
A few weeks after Archie's birth on May 6, 2019, the couple released a copy of his birth
certificate to the public, Vanity Fair notes. Showing fans and royal commentators alike
small details like where the baby was born and his parents' official titles, the document
was intriguing but relatively normal. But recently, the British press noticed that Archie's
amended-in-June-2019 birth certificate included a few changes, most notably to his parents'
names. What was originally "Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness Duchess of Sussex," had
become just "Her Royal Highness Duchess of Sussex," meaning that her first name had been
completely taken out. As for her husband, "Prince" was added ahead of "His Royal Highness
Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex."
After speculation that the change may have been a snub to Kate Middleton, whose name
is on her children's birth certificates, and a nod to Prince Harry's mother, Diana — who
almost always used her title, Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales — Markle released
a statement setting things straight. However, the palace doesn't exactly seem to be on board
with the explanation.
Markle released a statement to Harper's Bazaar through her rep, citing royal nuance for the
update to her baby's birth certificate. Expressing annoyance, the spokesperson's statement still
left many in the press scratching their heads. The spokesperson told the outlet,
"The change of name on public documents in 2019 was dictated by the palace, as confirmed
by documents from senior palace officials. This was not requested by Meghan, The Duchess
of Sussex nor by The Duke of Sussex. [...] To see this U.K. tabloid [The Sun] and their
carnival of so-called 'experts' chose to deceptively whip this into a calculated family 'snub'
and suggest that she would oddly want to be nameless on her child's birth certificate,
or any other legal document, would be laughable were it not offensive. There's a lot going
on in the world; let's focus on that rather than creating clickbait."
Claiming that her in-laws were responsible for the change may not have gone over as well
as she thought. Some have also guessed that the use of the Her Royal Highness titles may
have ruffled some feathers in the royal family, but the timeline doesn't follow. Vanity Fair
notes that both Markle and Prince Harry agreed to leave their HRH titles behind when they
removed themselves as senior members of the royal family, which came after the drafting
of their son's birth certificate.
Since the statement gave relatively little context around why the palace would request
this change to a legal document, many were left to wonder why. Page Six explains that
after marrying Prince Harry in 2018, Meghan Markle officially changed her name to Meghan,
Her Royal Highness, Duchess of Sussex. Present on nearly all of her legal documents, this
name is the one she uses in her official settings, the outlet reports. Following Markle's statement,
the palace seemed to be just as confused as the public.
A source told the outlet,
"This is totally baffling. The palace did not dictate anything, this amendment was made
by staff within their former office at Kensington Palace and higher-ups at Buckingham Palace
were always kept in the loop."
Furthermore, another source echoed the sentiment, saying,
"The birth certificate was changed by the former Office of The Duke and Duchess to ensure
consistency in the name and title of The Duchess of Sussex with other private documents."
With rumors swirling around who actually requested the change and why, it appears that the statement
may have deepened the rift inside the Windsor family. Between the Sussexes' new and old
staff, it's unclear who handled the amendments to the document, but it may be causing a bigger
headache than it's worth. We may never know the full story, knowing the palace's desire
to quell any rumors of a rift in the family, but hopefully it will all blow over soon.
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